Expert criticises speed target in govt's universal connectivity policy

The target speed being pursued by the government in its universal connectivity policy has been criticised by an expert who considers it too slow.

According to Dame Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at the University of Southampton, said the two-megabits-per-second (Mbps) speed that the government plans to deliver to every home by 2012 will not be fast enough.

She added that the slow speed will be especially noticeable as more people choose to watch high definition television services and she urged the government to focus on fibre optic technology.

Dame Wendy said: "We need to think harder about what type of society we're going to have in the age of networks and for sure ours is going to be a backward one if we don't get this right."

The 2Mbps target has been criticised by many businesses that already rely on faster speeds to run specific software programmes.

Fibre optic networks could result in faster download times and the more efficient use of VoIP solutions.

Virgin Media recently launched a 50Mbps service using the technology.